Chapter 72: Chapter 50: Advancement Points Obtained (Part 2)

“Thank you for your teachings, Teacher. I am deeply grateful.”

“Yes. In a little while, I’ll personally speak with Coach Wang about getting you out of the sparring partner group.”

Zhao Rui was taken aback. He quickly thanked Zeng Hongyi before saying, a little sheepishly, “Coach Zeng, I actually quite enjoy being a sparring partner. I feel it helps me deepen my understanding of Martial Arts.”

“Hm?”

Zeng Hongyi froze, then frowned at Zhao Rui. He was about to reprimand him but stopped himself. ’It’s too early for that conversation,’ he thought.

He said, looking slightly displeased, “The Martial Dao isn’t just about practical combat. Cultivating your mind and tempering your character are just as important! I will speak to Coach Wang about this.”

Zhao Rui gave an awkward smile, made a few more polite remarks, and then turned to leave the Martial Arts Arena.

Zeng Hongyi had good intentions. He recognized Zhao Rui’s potential and wanted to nurture it.

Unfortunately, Zhao Rui had no intention of accepting the favor. He had specifically requested to be a sparring partner in the first place.

’Without being a sparring partner, how was he supposed to fleece his seniors?’

「The next day at training.」

After Zeng Hongyi checked the sophomores’ progress with their Prajna Palm, he lifted the restriction on using other Cultivation Techniques during their sparring sessions.

Previously, he had insisted they only use Prajna Palm in their sparring matches to improve their practical skills with the technique.

Now that they had all made significant progress, there was no longer a need to focus their practice on a single Palm Technique.

With their “seals” broken, everyone was itching for a chance to go all out and have a proper fight with Zhao Rui.

This was exactly what Zhao Rui had been hoping for, and he accepted every challenge.

That afternoon, out of eight matches, six were challenges directed at him.

This left Zhang Kui with complicated feelings as he watched from the sidelines. Not having to go up and fight, not having to act as a “servant” sparring partner, was certainly relaxing. And yet, he felt an inexplicable sense of loss.

’Tch, I must be pathetic,’ he thought. ’I’m not happy even when I don’t have to be a sparring partner.’

Zhang Kui mentally slapped himself twice.

On the platform, Zhao Rui set aside his other Martial Arts. He used only the Bodhisattva Palm Technique as he sparred with Cao Guannan.

Because Cao Guannan had gained a great deal from his previous spars with Zhao Rui, and with Zeng Hongyi’s tolerance for his troublemaking having dropped sharply, he was now much more serious and disciplined in their practice matches.

’Great Strength Vajra Leg progress: ten percent… fifteen percent…’

As the two continued their spar, the Great Strength Vajra Leg that Zhao Rui had been longing for finally began to show progress in replication.

“Thank you for the match, Senior Brother Cao!”

“Your Prajna Palm is impressive, Junior Brother Zhao. I’m in awe.”

By the end of this final match, Zhao Rui had started replicating four New Martial Arts from four of the sophomores.

In addition to Cao Guannan’s Great Strength Vajra Leg, he had also started on Li Xinran’s Mixed Element Palm, Qin Rui’s Flower-Picking Finger, and another male student’s Mantis Fist.

The rewards were plentiful.

Each of the four Martial Arts had its own unique characteristics, and the sparring process also honed his adaptability when using the Prajna Palm.

When training ended, Zhao Rui was in high spirits and took the initiative to invite the sophomores to get a meal together.

To strengthen their “friendship”!

Li Xinran, Qin Rui, and Zhang Kui were naturally on board. The other upperclassman was on Zhao Rui’s team, so he wouldn’t refuse either.

All eyes fell on the sole “outsider”: Cao Guannan.

He was usually arrogant and had a bit of a roguish streak, so it was hard to predict how he would react.

“I’m in! Why wouldn’t I be?”

Cao Guannan slung an arm around Zhao Rui’s shoulders and said warmly, “We’re all brothers from now on. Let’s make sure we all pass the year-end assessment!”

“Sounds good! Let’s do our best together!”

“Let’s do it!”

Zhao Rui and the others hadn’t expected that, by a complete fluke, they had “tamed” the team’s most unstable member. Everyone’s spirits soared, and they left the Martial Arts Arena laughing and chatting.

The maple leaves turned red, and the evergreen pines stood vibrant against the October sky.

「In the blink of an eye, another ten days had passed.」

That morning, Zhao Rui and Zhang Kui were getting ready to head over to the sophomore group to continue their “jobs.”

But they received a sudden notice from Leader He Zhiyan telling them to skip the sophomores and report directly to the juniors’ group.

Zhang Kui’s face fell the moment he heard the news.

He had just managed to adjust his mindset and was starting to enjoy his time with the sophomores.

And now he was being sent to the juniors.

The upperclassmen there wouldn’t be nearly as easy to get along with as the sophomores.

Zhao Rui, however, didn’t mind. Over the past ten days, he had already copied the signature skills of all four of his seniors.

He had accumulated a total of six Advancement Points.

In addition to their primary Martial Arts, Li Xinran and Cao Guannan had also contributed two Light Body Techniques.

One was the Flying Swallow Soar, and the other was the Wandering Dragon Step—both were excellent Light Body Martial Arts.

’I’ve pretty much fleeced the sophomores for all they’re worth. Moving on to the juniors is actually a good thing.’

Upon receiving the notice, the two hurried over immediately.

When they arrived, they saw that the entire sparring partner group was there, including Leader He Zhiyan himself.

Zhao Rui and Zhang Kui quickly jogged over to the edge of the group.

“Good, the sparring partner group is all here. I heard from Teacher Zeng that you two made excellent progress with the sophomores and performed very well. Don’t slack off now that you’re with the juniors.”

The coach training the juniors was Zou Ping, a tall, slender, middle-aged man with thinning hair.

He looked over at Zhao Rui and Zhang Kui as they arrived and addressed them.

“Yes, Coach!”

The two quickly acknowledged him.

“Next week, the Martial Arts Team from Dongqi University of Art and Sports is coming to our school for an exchange program. A friendly tournament is inevitable…”

After hearing Coach Zou’s explanation, Zhao Rui finally understood why they had been so hastily summoned from the sophomore group.

’So it’s a last-minute cram session. They’re planning some surprise intensive training.’

“This time, we need to conduct targeted training based on the opponents they’re likely to field.”

“Leader He, there are six of you. Each of you will pick a file. You must imitate the Martial Arts described in your file to a reasonable degree of accuracy by the end of tomorrow.”

Zhao Rui was visibly stunned by this.

’How could anyone imitate a style that well in just two days? Even if you memorized the moves, it would be all form and no substance. What good would that be?’

But since no one else objected, he didn’t feel it was his place to speak up. He made a mental note to ask Leader He about it later.

After giving his instructions, Coach Zou told Leader He to take the sparring group elsewhere to assign the Martial Arts from the files.

“Right away, Coach!”

He Zhiyan replied, then turned with a slightly awkward expression on his face and led the sparring group away from the northwest platform area of the Martial Arts Arena.

Once they were a good distance from the Martial Arts Arena, Zhao Rui couldn’t help but voice his confusion.

At Zhao Rui’s question, He Zhiyan’s expression grew even more awkward.

He hesitated for a moment before saying with a mix of anger and frustration, “Actually, the sparring partner group has its own exclusive Martial Arts technique.”

…?

Zhao Rui’s eyes widened as he stared at He Zhiyan in confusion.

’He and Zhang Kui certainly didn’t get one.’

“Uh… I was a little busy around that time and forgot to teach you. I meant to get to it in a week or two, but I kept putting it off and it just slipped my mind.”

’Are you serious?!’

Zhao Rui’s face darkened. ’Isn’t this just screwing us over?’

’And bringing it up now… whose fault is this?’

“My bad, brother. It’s my fault. But there’s no use talking about it now. I’ll teach you right away so you can learn it as fast as possible.”

They talked as they walked, and before long, they arrived in front of a golden, pavilion-like building in a quiet, secluded area.

“This is the Jingxin Pavilion. It has private rooms for meditation and Cultivation. We’ll each take one. Let’s hurry up and learn.”

Inside the Jingxin Pavilion, He Zhiyan distributed the files based on each member’s abilities, telling them to learn the Martial Arts within as quickly as possible.

He, meanwhile, pulled Zhao Rui and Zhang Kui aside and began to earnestly teach them the sparring group’s exclusive Martial Arts.

This Martial Arts was somewhat similar to the Little Faceless Skill from his past life. It could simulate the Meridian circulation of other Martial Arts to an extent that it could almost pass for the real thing.

However, compared to the Little Faceless Skill, this art was far more rudimentary. It couldn’t generate its own Inner Strength. The Little Faceless Skill, by contrast, was a profound Martial Arts in its own right; practicing it allowed one to accumulate vast reserves of Inner Strength.

When relying on the unique Inner Strength of the Little Faceless Skill, simulated Martial Arts could unleash power on par with the original version.

This art had no such capability. It was merely a skill for simulating moves.

By using this art, one could channel their own Inner Strength through their already-opened Meridians to simulate other Martial Arts, achieving a state that was similar in both form and spirit.

The only caveats were that the art itself couldn’t generate Inner Strength, and the paths the Meridians followed were completely different from the original techniques.

It was, in a way, just an empty framework.

The name of this Martial Arts was the “Mimicry Fist!”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep